The invention relates to a method of monitoring the sounds of an automotive driveline to determine the physical condition of the driveline. The driveline sound is used to indicate potential physical damage to the driveline.
During use, automotive drivelines receive a high amount of physical impact and pressure. Drivelines require routine maintenance and inspection to preserve the life of the driveline and to prevent potential physical damage during use of the driveline. A driveline of a particular vehicle model has specific characteristics when in motion. The characteristics of a driveline include a characteristic sound. The sound of a driveline during safe use includes amplitudes of frequencies within a predicted range, which is indicative of no physical damage to the driveline. When the amplitudes of frequencies fall outside the predicted range, the driveline may have physical damage.
Presently, to diagnose the physical condition of a driveline of a vehicle, the driver or mechanic is required to routinely check under the vehicle for the outer physical appearance of the driveline. An appearance that is out of the ordinary is indicative of potential physical damage to the driveline. Such appearances may include thinning of the metal, metallic dust or rust around connecting joints of the driveline, obvious protrusions and indentations normally not present, etc. By checking the outer physical appearance of the driveline, the driver or the mechanic makes a determination as to the physical condition of the driveline. In situations where there is an indication of potential physical damage to the driveline, the driver or mechanic must determine whether the driveline has experienced excessive conditions which may lead to failure of or damage to the driveline during further use of the vehicle. In situations where the driveline shows no indication of potential physical damage, the driver or mechanic must still make a determination as to the physical condition of the driveline based on the age of the driveline.
The current method of routinely checking the outer physical appearance of the driveline is somewhat time consuming and sometimes inaccurate. This current method requires the driver to periodically manually look under the vehicle to determine the condition of the driveline. A considerable amount of time is usually taken to make this determination.
Additionally, in many situations, this current method is inaccurate because it relies on the driver's judgment regarding the driveline condition which depends either on the outside physical appearance of the driveline or the age of the driveline. No consideration is made on the driveline parts outside the scope of vision of the driver. Moreover, in many circumstances, the driver or mechanic is not technically trained in determining the physical condition of the driveline.